Movies on the PCB Radar: January 2007

Ah, January. Over in the US, it's a month littered with bad movies. Studios use the frozen wasteland of the month to dump films that would have little or no hope of making a dent in the box office at any other time of the year. However, over here in the UK, it's the time when we start to see the big movies that have all the awards buzz about them. Generally, you can't move at the start of the year without hitting a movie that has a Golden Globe nomination and tons of Oscar buzz. We do get some shit too, though. But it's mixed in with a whole heap of good stuff. So:

January 5th.





See? Robert Altman's final film makes it to these shores, along with Mel Gibson's Golden Globe nominated obscure language gorefest. And then there's Renee Zellwegger in a film that looks so classy I'm surprised it only has the one nomination for her performance so far.

January 12th






And this is my point about having shit mixed in with the great. Smokin' Aces won't be troubling anybody when awards season really kicks in and judging by the incoherent trailer, it's being released here in the hope that nobody notices how shit it is. That said, there are some fun people in the cast and I will still see it. I really hate the Running With Scissors poster, the film got wildly mixed reviews and died in the US, but I would see Annette Benning in anything and she's already being nominated for her performance here. Presumably she's grateful that Hilary Swank doesn't have a movie in contention. Last King Of Scotland is a must see not only for Whitaker but also James McAvoy who can do no wrong and uses his actual accent for the first time in a movie. As for Happyness I've already blogged how the trailer makes me glad I am not diabetic so whether or not I end up seeing the movie is anybody's guess.

Jan 19th








See, more shit mixed with greatness. I've been dying to see Babel for months now and have already missed two chances to see it so finally I'll be seeing it here. Black Book is Paul Verhoeven's critically lauded WWII movie, all the more shocking coming from the director of Showgirls. Infamous may well be the victim of bad timing, coming after the immaculately acted and directed Capote. Nobody needs to see Sandra Bullock as Harper Lee, though Daniel Criag's performance will undoubtedly be worth catching. And then there's Rocky Balboa. Opening this weekend to surprisingly strong reviews in the US, this franchise should have been retired a good twenty years ago. And if that wasn't enough, a new Rambo movie is starting shooting soon. Could someone please tell Sylvester Stallone to act his age? And while they're at it, could they tell Sarah Michelle Gellar to stop appearing in remakes of The Grudge?

Jan 26th







And so we round out the month with obscurity, controversy, greatness and shitness. Venus actually looks like it might be annoying more than anything else, but Vanessa Redgrave is always worth watching. Old Joy looks interesting but nobody has heard of it. Bobby has a cast of thousands and a Golden Globe nod for Best Pic, but was also recently given the title of Rolling Stone's Worst Film Of The Year. Blood Diamond comes soaked with several different controversies, none of them revolving around Leo's terrible South African accent, inexplicably. And finally, Darren Aronofsky's much delayed and very troubled Fountain. Given the ridiculously expansive storyline and the insanely truncated running time, I don't see how this can be even approaching coherent. I'm willing to give it a try though, not least because I do love Rachel Weisz so very much.